durell greene



l x x el l a C 5 'tama stmt @anni (twine,

.LDUEELL GREENE, OE CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Lette/rs .Patent No. 93,8 19da;ted August 17 1869.

LIFE-PRESERVING- MATTRESS.

The Schedule referred t'o.in these Letters Patent` :md making part f the same.

To all whom it may conwrn Be it known that I, J. DURELI. GREENE, of Gambridge, in the county of Middlesex, and State of Maslives in shipwreck, by means of life-preserving mattresses, or berth-mattresses made wit-h buoyant sides that serve to float thelh Aand enable-them to s ustaiu persons, each mattress being so made that a person can be easily supported upon it without danger of being thrown from it into the sea.

It is in such a mattress that my. invention consists, or in a' berth-mattress made in two parts, and havingv at each side formed of or with a' buoyant rail, this rail extending into and sliding in sleeves or pockets made in the corresponding adjacent sides or edges of the two sections of the mattress. i

The drawings re]iresent a berth-mattress embodying the invention. Y

, a b denote the two halves of the mattress, stuffed like any'comnlon mattress.

' Within the ticking, on each side edge of the mattress, is the pieceof wood,`cork, or other buoyant material o, eac-l1y section of the mattress having, at its opposite sides, pockets 11, -into vwhichslide the opposite ends of each rail c, the rail sliding freely in the pockets, and enabling the two halves ofthe mattress to be vrdrawn somewhat apart, or brought together.

Itv will be obvious that when brought together,the

two halves'form a substantial bed, the rails c forming a sort of framework for the mattress. v The two partstof the mattress are connected together by two exible'ba'nds orstrips f, whih limit the extent of outward'movement or separation of the sections (el). f v y At the centre of the mattress is a depending flexible band or strap, g, fastened at its opposite ends to the respective sec-tions a lg.

When the mattress4 is opened, this strap or band serves as a seat to be bestridden or sat upon by a person overboard, who attaches himselfto the mattress ,by droppi-nghis legs tl11ough`theopeing-madebyv separation of the mattress sections, in which position the person may easily sustain himself for great length of time, and as the construction adds but very little to the cost of the mattress, every passenger-earrying vessel can be' readily provided with ever-ready life-preserving orbuoyant mattresses, equal in num- 'ber to the number of passengers carried,'s1ch life-preserving mattresses takingy up no additional room, and requiring no skill to prepare them for use.'

I claim a life-preserving mattress, having Ya construction substantially as'deseribed. l d. DURELL GREENE.

Witnesses J. B. CROSBY,

'FRANCIS Gonpn. 

